Marco Arment commenting on the strategy of a company like Nintendo selling iOS versions of their games:

I’m not even sure that their brand recognition is relevant enough in these markets to guarantee that their games would do particularly well there. How much of the iOS gaming market is too young to have much loyalty to Mario and Zelda? (And how much of the Facebook gaming market is too old?)

I’d go a step further and suggest that it’s not just the brand recognition, but that the fundamental way that games make money has changed. Nintendo made money off of: hardware, accessories, and games. Zynga and others makes money off of: fake currency, ads, and in-app purchases.

How do you make Mario into a game that sells for nothing and has IAP to make up for the difference? Game play, not just hardware, has changed. Nintendo hasn’t.